Vending machine for book matches



April 23,v 1929. y w. E. WILLIAMS 1,710,394

VENDING MACHINE 4FOR BooK -MATCHES Filed 1390.10, 1926 4 sheets-sheet 1 w. E. WILLIAMS VENDING MACHINE FOR BOOK MATCHES April 23, .19279.

lApril-L23, 1929. w. E. WILLIAMS VENDING MACHINE FOR BooK MATCHES File'd Dec. 10. 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet Awww@ wm ,NWN

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Patented Apr. 23, 1929.

PATENT CFFICE.

WILLIAM ERAsTUs WILLIAMS, oF WILMETTE, ILLiNois.

viiiiiime Masami: Fim Boex MATCHES.

Application filed December 10, 1926. Serial No. 153,981.

My invention relates to the coin control or slot machine type and is especially adapted to vending book matches which have previously been prepared by being fastened onto a continuous tape and the latter being Wound up into a roll or reel and loaded into a machine as a complete reel or cartridge and the end or" thisreel of tape loaded 'with matches is trained 'from the reel into the.

ing drawings of which Fig. 1 is a top Iplan A View of the device.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation.y

Fig. 3 is a side' elevation of the machine.

Fig. t is a vertical/section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an elevation of lthe tape feed# ing mechanismivhich is located in the upper lefthand corner of the machine as referred to in Fig. l as seen when the side door is opened. l l Fig. 6 is a View ing the parts in a different position.

Fig. 7 is a plan vieriT of a se'ctionot a tape ivith the books ot matches secured thereto.

Fig. 8 is a horizontal ksection online 8 8 l ot Fig. 11. l

Fig. 9,is a. vertical section showing' `details of the operating'mechanism Online 9-9 of Fig. ii. i

Fig. 10' is a. horizontal section indicated by the arrows on line 10-10 of Fig. t.

Fig. 11 is a front vertical section on line 11-11 of Fig. 13. j y', y y Fig'. 12 is a vieiv 'similar to tliat ot' Fig. 11 but showing the parts in aditlferent position. A

Fig. 13 is a vertical section Online 13-13 o1' Fig. 12.

The machine is adapted to handle and `ven-d matches which have beenpr'epared by being bound together on a tape and the paper strip of tape is shown in F ig. 7 Wheresimilar to Fig. 5 shoiv-L in EZ indicates the strip and 3 the books of matches. This strip is stapled onto the loiver ends ofthe books lying fiativise and the lower 'ends of the opposite books abut ting against each other making a close contact on the tape with the narrow spaces'indicated by 41 between the books as relates to the length ot the-tape, the purpose of this space being to facilitate the handling of the books through the machine. The Whole load of matches for a machine Consists of a piece of tape loaded with matches of suliieient length that when coiled up as shown in Fig. e, it is loaded' into the machine as a single charge, reel, coil, cartridge, bundle, or package, the coil of matches thus prepared being formed into the package at the factory Where the matches are made. The machine'is enclosed'in a case having base piece 5 composed of ivood or other suitable material on which is a metal vbase Wall 6 and the rear end of the case is formed by a solid Wall 7 and thelett side of the machine as it appears in Figs. 1 and 2 is also a fixed metallic Wall 8. The right side of the machine asfindicat'ed by Figs. 1 and 2 and the front of Fig. 3 is composed ofr a door 16 which covers the Whole side of the case and is hinged at the back Wall by the hinges 9 and this door `is provided With an overlapping iiange 10 going over the top corners of the case andthe side overlapping flange 11 at t-he front of the machine, see 2. The top cover piece of the machine is also al hinged-inen'iber and'is composed of the plate 12 hinged on the inside bythe hinges 13, Fig. 4,r to' the side i'vall 8.

- The front face' of the machine is provided with a casinT Wall madev of tvvo members i `C` j.

yone of them being indicated in li'ig. 2 by 111- Which simply a sort yof an idle blank wall more 'for appearance than enclosure i'iur'poscs while thepright side of the iront yrace is provided with a wall 15 to' which part of the coin controlled operating mech-v anism is secured.

*4 Thel door members arel locked shut by `means of an ordinary t'nrniture'lock 17 shown in the dotted line oi Fig. 3. Bolt 18 oi. this lock extending inside vthe liiange 1.9 on the front fa'ce or Wall' piece 15. The overlapping' lange 10 prevents the raising of the top cover piece 12 When the door 16 is locked. l

On the inside of outside Walls of the casing there is the semicircular cross member 20 which is a plate which extends across from the door 1G back to the side wall 8 and furnishes a curved bottom for the space in which the coil of match books is located. The front wall 2l of this interior member 2O extends upward and forms as it were, the front face of an inside wall separating` the chamber which holds the match books from the chan'iber in which the coin mechanism isv with books of matches a little wider than the coil of tape for the purpose of accomn'iodating` the mechanism which mechanism extends outside of the width of the vbundle of matches, the 'casing is filled .outward by pieces of wood or other material. being` indicated by 24C in Fig. el and. this may also be observed 1n Fig. l0. Likewise it is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 as relates to the seg*- ment of wood which is fastened to the door 16.

The mechanism which carries forward the books is composed of a chain the links of which are made of stampings out of fiat sheets and provided with hat body pieces 25 and the ends of these body pieces are turned up into end flanges 2G having lugs 27 connected by pins 28 and this chain so constructed is trained over sprocket wheels 29 of pentagon outline having {lange-s 30 at each end thereof to hold the chain from displacement oil' the ends of the sprockets. The

sprockets 29 are mounted upon shafts 39 carried in bearings on vthe bars 3l which are connected to the end flanges 232 of a cross `member piece 33 between and parallel with the shafts 39 land connects the bars 3l which in turn hold between them the sprockets 29.

Sprockets 29 owing;` to their pentagon form need no other engagement in the chain links than what is brought about by the angularity of the pentagon faces, the corners 34 of these pentagon faces amountinp` to what .might be termed ordinary sprocket wheels. At the s edges of the flat body piece 25 the links of the chain there are turned up projections 35 out of the body of the metal of the links which projections extend upward in between the spaces 4l; between the books as fastened on the tape, and thus secure an engagement of the tape at several. points which results in makinga secure engagement with the tape of match books, to the end that accidental displacement substantially never takes place, as long` as the binding` tape bctween the books is not broken.

- At the front or delivery point for the books the front walls lll and l5 of the case are opened leavingan exposure directlyY to the base fiat piece 25 of the links as indicated by Fig. 4 whereat the books are delivered to be taken .by the purchaser indicated by position 36. At each operation of the machine, which involves one movement of the sprockets 29 one-fifth of a revolution, a book is moved from position 37, sec Fig. fl, to position exposing` the end of the tape with two books ready to be grasped by the fingers at position 36 and the purchaser then takes hold of these books and tears oft' the tapek which gives him possession of two books.

Each of the spring1 blades 38 is fastened to V'the hinged cover plate of the machine, as .shown in full lines in Fig. Ll and dotted lines in Fig. l with a downwardly extending free end for holding down one of the two end books in position 37 to such an lextent that when the purchaser takes hold of two books at position 3G and tears off the tape which connects them to the books in position 37, he

will get but the two books since the sprina's n, 38 and the `projections prevent more than v one set of books being pulled voff Vor out at one time. The mechanism is designed to require a new coin for each partial revolution. of the sprocket wheels which causes the delivery ofk one section of the match book loaded tape lat a time. Y

One merit of using` a chain in the manner shown for carrying forward the tape loaded with match books lies in the fact that regardless of how many books there may be remaining` at the exhaustion of the loadthe chain will carry even the last book to the position for final delivery. 7

For the purpose of giving` notice tofthe purchaser of the exhaustion of the supplycf books in the machine and thus 'warn him against undertaking` to deposit a coin when there are no books to be delivered, l provide a small glass window el() in the top cover piece l2 of the case and in some instances l provide a similar windowin the region indicated by ll, see The .movement of the sprockets 29 in astep by step manner is brought about by the pins 42, Vsee Fie. 5, which are engaged by a `pawl block havingA a shoulder fll and a ver ical face 4-5 and hinged atl 4l@ to a vertical plunger rod /l7 of angular cross section which rod l? is provided with a protindinpl thumb piece l-S which the operator presses down after having` inserted the coin in the crescent coin slot 4-9 in front of the n'iachine, Fig'. 2. The vertical vmovement of this plunger rod t7 is such that the projection la engages vone of the pins l2 and pushes it ldiownimrd amounting to the angular distance of onelifth of a revolution of the sprockets 29.

The sprocket at the front of the machine, the flange 30 o'l which is provided with the pins 42, yis the controlling sprocket for the movement ot' the chain and a detention pawl is hinged at 51 to one ot the cross members 33 which supports the sprockets in the `trame and pawl 50 prevents a retrograde movement of the chain by -a catch 52 shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5 andengages one ot the pins 42 and prevents a retrograde movement of the sprockets and chain. On a forward movement ot the sprockets and 'chain thc inclined surface 53 ot this pawl 50 rides over the pins 42 and drops by gravity down overl the pins to lock them againstl retrograde movement. A similar pawl 54 hinged at 55 to this same cross member piece 33 is provided with a catch lip 56 shown in dotted lines that engages at intervals the pins 42 vand locks the sprocket shown from movement oi more than one space at a time. The

position shown in Fig. 5 is that ot repose aty the completion ot the delivery of `one charge of books, the mechanism being ready for the beginning of a new opera-tion. Thus it will be observed that the sprockets and chain are locked in position of Fig. 5 against movement in either direction. The pawl 5() automatically operates Aby gravity by Virtue 'of the heavyendextending from its hinge '51 but the pawl 54 is actuated in its movement by a bar 57 hingedk at 58 to the said pawl 54 and this bar 57 is connectedl to the mechanism to be actuated by, a coin when same is inserted in the coin slot 49as pre- Viously mentioned. By referring to Fig. 6 the position of the pawl 43 is shown in the act ot moving the sprockets land chain and thus it will be noticed in this figure that the pawl 54 has cleared the pin 42 which in the position of' Fig. 5 was engaged by the catch lip 56. On the completion ofthe movement downward o1 the plunger rod 47 a lcomplete i'novement is made for one chain link delivering the two books to the position or dise charging face 36, see Fig. 4. Upon the position of Fig. 6 tothat of Fig. 5 and thus restores the pawl 54 tothe initial position to prevent more than one link ofthe chain going forward at the'single release. Thus the operator may not push the thumb piece down and then catch hold of the extending edge of the exposed pair of match books in the position of 36 and then continuously pull out the entire supply of matches as this is prevented by the pawl 54 dropping immediately back in place whenever one of Athe pins 42 passes sufficiently forward to carry a book 'lar enough. outward for a person to grasp the books or the chain itseltand produce, as itwere, a robbery of the machine. The pawl 43 hinged at 46 is controlled by a small spring 59, see Figs. 5 and 6, which keeps thepawl in position to engage the pins 42 andk at the same time on the return stroke ot the plunger rod 47 allow the inclined surface y6() to spring past one ot the pins 42 and get again in position of Fig.5 ready for the shoulder 44 again to engage a pin 42 on another downward movement. position ot the pawl 43 is sustained in 'the limited movement required byy means ot a small pin 61 inthe bar.47 engaging a slot 62 in the pawl 43. The space between the shoulder 44 and the pin 42 immediately below it allows sutlicient movementol1 the bar 47 when a coin has been inserted in the coin slot 49 to permit thev coin to act as part of the mechanism in releasing the latch device which limits the movement of the bar 47 save only when a coin is present to release this latch. This mechanism is best illustratedY in Figs. 8, 9, 11, 12, and 13.

It is substantially necessary to provide. in slot machines that a complete movement be made of the operating mechanism at each interval in order to prevent a displacement of the parts and to insure the delivery ot what is expected to bevmade, and to insure.

this feature ot a.complete movement, the bar 47, as before described, being in 'form of an angle in the cross section has upon its leg at right angles to that shown in Figs. 5 and 6 asection ot teeth 63, see Fig. 11,

which is engaged by a pawl 64 hinged at 65-y and controlled byv a spring 66 to hold the pawl in engagement with the teeth in either direction of movement o'lthe bar 47, clearance space 67 being provided at each endk of the section of teeth ,tov allowa reversible The Y ino movement of thepawl 64. Thus in pushing down the bar 47 by the thumb piece 48 the pawl 64 will make it necessary fora complete stroke to be made before a return movcment may be accomplished and then on the upward movement of the bar 47 the pawl v64 reverses itsv actionand prevents any return`movement until a full up stroke is completed. Thus there is guarded against a pumping of a slot machine and a resulting fraudulent operation thereof. The upward movement of the bar 47 is brought about by Aa spring 68 one end of which is secured at 69 to the-screw 70, Fig. 13, and the lower end secured at 7l to the lower end of the bar47. Thus whenever the operatorv releases the pressure on thumb :piece 48 the spring 68 automatically returns the bar, provided, of course, any movement ot the bar 47 has been downward sufficiently to permit the pawl 64 to enter the upper clearance space 67 which has only been arrived at after the right movement ot the bar47 has taken place to complete one .operation of the sprockets and Vchain as previously mentioned.

The mechanism which is controlled b y a coin when one is entered into the coin slot 49 is best shown in Figs. 11 and 12 wherein 72 indicates the coin which has just been entered into the coin slot and drops down into a coin chute, being indicated by the shaded` portion 7 8. As the coin entered into the slot its movement into the coin chute 73 is arrested by a. block 74, see Fig'. 11, and this position of the coin is immediately under the projection 75 of the block 76 secured to the plunger rod 47. As the plunger rod 471s pushed downward a portion of its movement being the distance between the shoulder A44l and the pin 42 'in `Fie'. 5 the coin`72 is carried down bv the projection 7 5 and pushes the block 74- to the left, the extreme position of this movement being indicated by Fig. 12 and as this block 74 is secured to a bell crank lever 77 hinged at 78 the block 7 4 moves the bell crank lever 77 and in this movement .from the posi of Fig. 11 to that of Fig. 12 there is brought about the lifting of the bar 57 which releases the pawl 54 from one of the pins 42 as previously described as thc bar 57 is connected at 79 to an arm 80 of the bell crank lever 77.

The movement of the bell crank lever 77 from the position of Fig. 11 'to that of Fig. 12 results in liftingl the bar 57. Not only that, the upper end 81' of the bell crank lever 77 is connected by a. pin 82 to a locking bolt 83 one end of which is carried on a. pin 84. secured into the front Wall 15 of the casing and engagesa slot 85 in the said latch "8. rllhe outer end 86 of the said latch 83 in the position shown in Fig. 11 extends in front of one leg of the angle sectional plunger 47 and is in position to engage a small spring 87 which extends through the slot 88 in the leg of the plunger 47. This spring 87 is adapted to hit against the end 86 of the `latch 83 and prevent a movement of the plunger 47 down past the latch 88 un til after the latch 83 has been moved to the left to the poistion indicated in Fig. 12 wherein the end 86 of the latch 88 has been moved out of the pathway of the spring stop 87 and thus in that position of the latch 88 vthe bar 47 may be pushed downward further carrying the coin down 4through and out of the coin chute 73-where it will fall downlinto the space 89, see Fig. 4, which is a storage place for the coin accessto which is had only when the doorY 16 is`open. A spring 9() secured at 91 to the bell crank lever 77 and secured lat 92 'to the front wall 15 of the case returns the bell crank lever 77 from the position shown in Fig. 12 to that shown in Fig. 11 and this action immediately takes place as soon as the bar 47 passes downward bringing the stopv spring 87 below Vthe region of the end 86 of the latch 83 and thus the return ofthe bell crank lever 77 brings about the return of the pawl 54 to position to catch the next pin 42 coming along so that substantially on the instant that the coin 72 gets below the'contact of the block 74' the pawls 54 and 50 are in position to prevent a false movement of the sprocket chain beforeV the completion of the movement of the the books inust be placed in the box one by one. VViith my machine the load of books c omes as a. complete coil package prepared in the Vfactory and the operator opens the main side door 16 and raises the'top door wall 12 and then has a clear open space in which to insert the cartridge or coil of match books, see Fig. 4, sidewise onto the spindle or supporting stop 28 and atl that time the lid or top piece 12 is raised out ofthe way and heeasily drops down the upperv end of the tape loaded with books in the proper position onto the chain and then returns the top lid 12 to the position shown in Fig. 4,` and then shuts and locks the door 16 and the machine is readyfor operation.

The top fla-nge 10 of the door covers over the top edge of the cover plat-e 12, the latter is stift'ened by a flange 'on its side edge indicated by dotted lines 93 in Fig. 3 and infull lines in Figs. 5 and 6. The flange 11- on the front edge of the door 16 is vcut away in the region where the thumb piece 48 moves, sec Fig. 2, to thelimit or bottom 94 of the stroke of the thumb piece Thus the thumb piece 48 moves from the position shown in Fig. 1 down unt-il the piece 47 hits the edge 94 of the flange 11 which that stroke required for one complete operation Y of the machine. Y

Thus by Vthe constructon shown whenever a coin is entered and the thumb picce48 is pushed down carrying its plunger 47 for` the full limit of the stroke there is delivered at position 86 a pair of books which may be torn olf from the tape or the tapetorn off itself at that point and then the remaining 'piece oftape -tornfrom the book giving the purchaser two books ofmatches.v

These matches are usually placed upon counters of cigar stores and otherrplaces where tobacco products `are soldrand it. is desirable that the frontage of the counter be conserved as much as possible `and the machines be as narrow as possible as relatesl to taking lup counter or show case frontage.

This machine which is narrow and relatively deep perhaps is less objectionable than a machine which has-a wider front face and may extend for a shallower distance over the showcase. Thus in this respect this machine occupies less spacewhich is serviceable to the merchant and permits more useful space in the counter or sho',y case for other purposes than the old slot machines. Not only that, many of the locations of these machines are in places where the salesman n or clerk is busily employed with customers and his time is more valuable in serving other merchandise more so than it is moie in serving the customer with matches, since the old styled machines require la lot of handling of match books as individual books and consumes a lot of time in loading. This machine may be loaded as a single unit in a very short time. This machine will hold upward of 20() books without occupying any more actual cubic space than the kold styled machines which only hold about l() to 5() books besides having the further advantage of occupying so much less counter frontage than do the old machines. rIhese facts are controlling factors as relates to match vending machines of this class and everyfeature of the mechanism which conserves this space as by the arrangement I have shown is a valuable featureV contributing to the final success of the. machine.

lVhile I have shown and described book matches secured to tape in reel kor coil form I may use, when desired, small boxes of matches particularly those of the safety box type which are generally carried in the pockets of the consumer. lllhile I have shown the tape secured to the books by stapling, I may secure them by pasting the strip to the books or pasting them to the boxes whichever manner is most desirable for the purpose required.

I have disclosed novel features inthis application which are also disclosed in my co-pending applications Ser. Nos. 89,194 and 155,605. What I claim is l. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a casing having a door lopening broadly at one side and a topy cover opening upward enclosing a chalnber adapted to carry a reel of match books connected together by a tape and provided with a delivery orifice, of la feeding mechanism consisting of a chain running over sprockets and having projections which enter in between the'sets of match books for delivering books through said delivery orifice, and mechanism for causing a step by step movement of feedingforward the said chain and the said matches to the said delivery orifice.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a casing having a chamber adapted to hold a reel of match books secured together on a tape, of a feeding mechanism for feeding forward the said tape composed of a sprocket chain and two sprocket wheels and said chain provided with projections adapted to enter in the spaces between the books as secured on said tape, and a reciprocating mechanism adapted to move thel sprocket wheels a single sprocket at a time.

3. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a casing opening at the side and provided with a chamber adapted to hold a reel of matches secured together by a tape and said chamber having a curved bottom to facilitate the unwinding of the tape and matches from a reel of the same loaded in the said chamber, of afeeding mechanism located above the chamber in which the said matches are located and a cover over the top of the feeding mechanism, said cover adapted to be raised and lowered in gaining access to the feeding mechanism and a side door opening to the said chamber wherein the matches are loaded. y

4. In a machine of the class described, the combination'with a casing having a chamber adapted to holda reel of matches secured together by a tape and said casing provided with an opening at the side and having a cover therefor, of a feeding mechanism located above the said chamber and also provided with a suitable cover therefor, clamping means secured on the inside of the said cover over the said feeding mechanism adapted to hold the matches down onto the feeding mechanism when the top cover is closed. v

Signed at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, this 8th day of December, 1926.

WILLIAM ERASTUS IVILLIAMS. 

